X23 The Aftermath
by RemedyChill
Summary: Events that unfold in between X23's departure and the next days training session. Please R/R and enjoy!


X23: The Aftermath and the Afterlaugh

Logan hefted the large door in to place and Rogue quickly sank the screws through the hinges with a powerful drill.

"It's starting to look alright around here again, isn't it?" She asked, trying to engage him in conversation.

"Hmmm" He agreed.

"Ah mean, all we've got left to patch is that hole in the floor of the library. So we're closing in on being done, right?" She asked hopefully.

"Got a date or something?" He growled out of the corner of his mouth, picking up a hammer and nails from the pile of supplies he had dumped by the door.

"No. Just trying to make conversation." She said.

"No offense kid, but cram it." He shot her a sideways glance.

"Sure thing." She offered, sounding offended. "Wouldn't want to talk about it and feel better or anything." She quipped.

Logan let out a heavy sigh and let his head fall to his chest. "Listen, I'm sorry. But there's been a lot of bad memories tied up in this mess."

"I know." Rogue shot him a steady and unwavering glance. "I've tasted those memories, remember?"

Logan nodded slightly. "I remember." He said at last. "But you shouldn't have had to… Any more than she should have. This is my pain. And no one else has any right to it. The fact that Hydra's been dishing it out behind my back …"

Logan let out a low growl and he looked like he might tear the door down off it's hinges.

"Easy there big fella." Rogue smiled softly and laid a gloved hand on Wolverine's arm. "She _is_ coming back you know." Rogue told him.

"How can you _pretend_ to know that?" He barked softly at her. "I _am_ her and I don't know that."

Rogue smiled coyly. "I know because _I'm_ here." She said flatly. "I didn't want to come here, I did mah best to fight it, but here I am." Her eyes shone with a soft inner light. "Because this place is the center of every kindness Ah've ever known." She explained. "And in the quiet times, when Ah'm clearheaded, that means more than anything else ever could." 

Logan was quietly stunned and suddenly hopeful.

"She'll be back." Rogue said again. "And you'll be ready."

Logan looked away. "I hope so. On both counts."

Kurt was sweeping up the remains of the chandelier in the entranceway. He steadily avoided Logan's eyes.

Logan turned back to Rogue. "Is it me, or is the Elf avoiding me?" He asked her.

"Kurt, Berzerker, Bobby, Cannonball, Jamie …" She smiled. "See the pattern yet?"

Logan considered this for a moment. "No." He had to admit at last.

Rogue smiled to herself and picked up the wood for the library floor.

Jean sauntered up, covered in concrete dust and carrying a trowel. "I fixed the chimney." She told them. And the places she climbed up the outside of the mansion."

"Thanks kid." Logan told her, taking the trowel. "Go get cleaned up." He said, eyeing the small lump of quick-crete that was drying on her nose.

"Gladly." She announced, then spun and disappeared in to the mansion.

He watched her go, and saw Kurt smile at her over his broom, but when Kurt met Logan's eyes, he looked away quickly.

He turned his attention out to the front lawn where Bobby was finishing up the repair work on the front statue. He was laughing and smiling with Kitty and Jamie, but he too averted his gaze from Wolverine.

"Okay girl, spill it, whets wrong with this picture?" He asked Rogue at last.

Rogue smiled slyly. "It's really noting important. Just boys being boys." She seemed overly amused and she too disappeared in to the house headed toward the library.

Logan considered this for a moment. _Boys … being boys …._

He shook his head. He just didn't get it.

"Hey, Kurt." He called and Kurt left his broom propped against the wall.

"Vat is it?" He asked, his head lilting to one side.

"What's going on with the boys here at the mansion?" He asked bluntly. "Everyone's been avoiding me like the plague since last night."

Kurt squirmed where he stood. "Ahh, yeah. About that …" Kurt shrugged. 

"Yeah." Wolverine told him, hardening his gaze. "About that. Now spill it."

Kurt suddenly grinned wide and almost laughed. "Well, you know we didn't know what vas going on at first. We thought she vas your _daughter_."

Logan considered this. He hadn't thought about how this might have looked to the students.

"And?" Logan prompted.

Kurt shrugged. "And ve kinda thought …" He smiled, embarrassed, and looked away. "And ve thought she vas … kinda … _cute_."

"Cute?" Logan spit the word in disbelief.

"Ja.' Kurt agreed with a shrug. "And then ven we found out that she vas a clone …" 

"When you found out she was a clone … what?" He asked harshly.

Kurt shrugged again, his humor overtaking his awkwardness. "Vell," He began "Bobby just kind of realized, out loud …"

Kurt looked away.

"What is it Elf?' Logan asked softly and compassionately.

Kurt shrugged again. "You make a … _You make a very cute little girl_." He finished at last.

For a moment he didn't respond. Then he looked over the lawn to Bobby. They looked like they had finished repairing the statue.

And then Logan laughed, much to Kurt's relief.

"Do me a favor Elf. Tell the new mutants to suit up for a training session." Kurt nodded, feeling like Bobby was about to reap what he had sown.

"And then, grab me the kickball sack from the equipment locker." He finished.

Kurt smiled softly. "Sure thing." He smiled, flashed a quick thumbs up, and vanished in a swirl of smoke and noise.

__

A daughter …. Logan considered this carefully. _I have a daughter_. And much to his own surprise, he found himself smiling.


End file.
